Access Your Computer from Your Smartphone

I always thought it would be kewl if I needed a report during an off-site meeting that was on my laptop, which I left at work, because I was invited to this meeting just to listen, so I quickly whip out my cellphone and download the needed report from my laptop to my phone to save the day. With that in mind, I started in on some research last weekend to see if I could access my computer from my Samsung Blackjack. What I stumbled across was a free service provided by Avvenu called Access n’ Share. Avvenu Access n’ Share let’s you access the files on up to 10 computers from any web enabled machine, including your Windows Smartphone for Free… Freakin’ Sweet!

The process to set up an account was simple:

1. I first had to download the Avvenu Access Share Connector application from the Avvenu website.
2. Next I installed the software on my computer, and once the software is installed you are able to sign up for an account.
3. Once the account is created you are good to go and now able to access files on your computer from the web anywhere around the world.
4. To access your new Avvenu Share account from your Windows Smartphone open IE on your mobile and type https://share.avvenu.com/login/ in the address bar.
5. You’ll get a login screen were you use the same username and password you selected during the creation of your account. That’s it, you’re in!

The Bottom Line: This service is freakin’ sweet! It’s a must for anyone that wants to be connected and a hero. It’s also hard to wrong with the price tag of free. Yeah for Free!

Take Your Passwords With You

Over the last few years I’ve been playing the role of Internet Marketing Manager. With this role came the responsibility of managing the almighty password protected excel spreadsheet that contained every important log-in and password critical for doing my job. I quickly found myself logging into 10 to 30 websites every day. I found myself logging in to many of these sites multiple times each day.  After tossing out a random complaint one day, a colleague of mine recommended a tool called RoboForm. I jumped online to download the Free Trial Version to give it a test drive, and guess what… I never looked backed. RoboForm is just the tops, I freakin’ love this thing. If you want to give RoboForm a try, you can download a free trial version at RoboForm.com. The free version let’s you save up to 10 log-ins.

A little over a year ago I upgraded to RoboForm2Go, which is on a portable USB drive. The only things better then RoboForm is RoboForm2Go. I can now take my passwords with me where ever I go. I have found keeping my personal and work passwords together in one location extremely beneficial. I love the fact that I don’t have to take my laptop home every night. I just load up my USB Drive with my reports and such, toss it in my pocket and head home. So here’s everything this thing it has…

• It auto save your passwords in browser.
• It auto fills logins & forms.
• Fill personal info into online forms
• Save offline passwords & notes.
• Generate Secure Random Passwords to meet security best practices.
• Encrypt passwords and personal data using AES, Blowfish, RC6, 3-DES or 1-DES algorithms.
• All personal info is stored on your computer only.
• Take RoboForm with you on USB disk for ultimate portability.
• Sync your passwords and notes to Palm or Pocket PC.
• Backup & Restore, Print your passwords.
• It is well-behaved: NO ADWARE, NO SPYWARE.
• Works under Windows as an add-on to IE-based browsers.
• Works with Netscape, Mozilla, Firefox under Windows, it’s even Vista ready.

The Bottom Line:  Roboform2Go is a must have for the professional on the go that likes repetitive tasks simplified to the lowest denominator or for anyone that is just plan lazy. The software itself runs for $39.95, but you’ll be thankful you purchased it. I recommend getting your own large storage USB drive instead of buying their 256MB USB drive for $9.95. You’ll wanna also pick up their sync software called GoodSync for backing up your My Documents folder on your work computer.